A modern building for the performing arts
In September of 2008, on the site of the newly constructed Riverside Plaza, the Morrison Center for Performing Arts was rededicated the Velma V. Morrison Center for the Performing Arts in celebration of its upcoming 25th anniversary season, in honor of the woman who, for decades, oversaw the completion of a hall that would host the performing arts in Boise. Harry W. Morrison, of the Morrison Knudsen engineering giants, had set out to see the creation of such a venue when he married Velma, Boise’s “grand dame of the arts”[1], in 1959.
Riverside Plaza and Ann Morrison Memorial Park were both part of a land grant Mr. Morrison made to the city in 1959, in memory of his wife Anne, who died in 1957. For years the newly-wedded Harry and Velma tried to organize the creation of a performance hall on the gift. Harry’s death in 1971 reinforced Velma’s determination to see the project to completion, but for years the extra fifteen acres that were set aside for a performing arts center remained undeveloped for lack of financial backing.
The idea was popular, but the amount of money needed was not easy to come by. The community raised money through a series of performances hosted at the Boise High Auditorium. The popularity of the productions, and the limited seating only highlighted the demand for a larger venue in Boise. Mrs. Morrison sought support from all avenues, she was able to establish an endowment through the Morrison Family Foundation, and built mutually beneficial partnerships with Boise State University, and the City of Boise. The project broke ground in 1981.
The structure was built to seat 2,000 in the main hall, 800 in the upper mezzanine and 1,200 at the orchestra level, and it has several smaller venues as well as classrooms.[2] The architectural firm, Lombard-Conrad Architects, has been criticized in the past for the building’s under-whelming façade and its awkward south-facing rear entrance. Critics blame the modern utilitarian architecture on the tight budget, saying it lacks character or aesthetic attraction. But the “sparse modernist style” actually maintains the aesthetic integrity of the surrounding structures on campus, which are also red brick, stout, and geometrically inclined structures. The Morrison Center does exhibit a certain flair compared to its neighbors however; it was built to take the shape of Idaho when viewed from above.
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